


a little help is all you need

by Mayarene Rose (Paradise_of_Mary_Jane)



Series: Whumptober 2019 [15]
Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Family, Gen, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-14 08:35:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21012875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paradise_of_Mary_Jane/pseuds/Mayarene%20Rose
Summary: Damian is overpowered on patrol and Cass comes to help him out.





	a little help is all you need

**Author's Note:**

> For Day 16: Pinned Down

“Is anyone there?”

Robin’s voice is hesitant and wary, but also out of breath. Panting. Cass can hear sounds of fighting, men screaming, bodies hitting the pavement, grunts of pain. Some might even belong to Damian. 

“Is there a problem?” she asks. 

A pause. Cass doesn’t like using communicators. She can’t see anything. It’s impossible to predict what they’re thinking. Words don’t carry intentions the same way.

“I’m trapped,” Damian finally says. “I may require assistance.”

Cass is already moving and running towards where she knows Damian would be. Damian was patrolling near the docks. He was alone. Batman said it was quiet there tonight. Robin had wanted to go on more solo patrols and everyone thought it was a good idea. Cass hadn’t thought so, but she hadn’t said anything. Robin was too angry, she thinks, too reckless, too eager to prove himself. It makes him dangerous.

Thirteen. Age doesn’t mean much to her but she understood the look on Robin’s face. He was teetering on the edge of something. He’s going to make a mistake soon. It was going to be a bad one.

Cass hadn’t tried to stop him; that would have just made him angrier. She did make sure she was close by to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.

“I’m on my way,” she says.

“What?” Damian sounds alarmed. The fight doesn’t seem to be winding down, but he sounds tired. “Isn’t anyone--”

“I’m closest,” she says. “Wait there.” A pause. Still fighting. Cass hates not being able to see. She can’t get a proper read on what’s going on. Sounds don’t make sense. She hates not knowing. “And don’t die,” she adds.

Damian doesn’t answer. She does not consider this to be a good sign.

\--

It takes her too long to find her way to the docks. When she gets there, she finds Damian pinned to the ground by two men three times his size. He’s thrashing, trying to break their grip, but going about it completely wrong. It’s almost desperate. It just makes them lean their weight on him more. It’s definitely desperate.

Damian is panicking, she realizes.

She jumps into the fight. There are several unconscious bodies around them. It was supposed to be a quiet night for all of them, but obviously it wasn’t for Damian. He was overpowered, though he didn’t go down without a fight.

At least ten thugs down, and he still has enough strength to thrash underneath his captors.

Cass steps out of the shadows, and one of the men pinning Damian down charges straight at her. 

Cass stands her ground, just watching him. He looks afraid. People who are afraid make a lot of mistakes. She finishes that fight quickly.

Damian finally succeeded in breaking the pin, along with the man’s arm. He’s knocked unconscious from the pain. 

Robin heads over to her. Cass looks down at him. He’s standing, but he’s exhausted, swaying on his feet. There’s a bruise blooming at his jaw and blood is dripping down the corner of his mouth.

“You should have called for backup earlier,” she says.

Damian tuts dismissively. “I had the situation handled,” he says. 

Cass raises an eyebrow. She doesn’t think getting pinned down by two men is having the situation handled. Damian seems to read that off her clearly enough, because he flushes.

“I did,” he insists. “You did not need to intervene.”

Cass tilts her head. “You didn’t want _me _to help you.” 

Damian looks away. He doesn’t really need to answer. His body speaks enough on its own. No one in their family really tries lying to anymore.

She doesn’t really blame him for not wanting her help. It’s not that they hate each other, but they never quite liked each other, either. It makes sense. She still thinks it’s stupid not to ask for help when he needed it because of personal grievances, but she understands.

Damian is proud. She can understand pride.

Pride makes her stupid sometimes, too.

“We’re going home,” she says. Damian tries to protest but falls quiet at her sharp look.

They head back to the cave in silence.

\--

Alfred isn’t waiting for them, which is a relief. He wouldn’t have approved Cass’ plans at all. She catches Damian’s attention and gestures towards the training mat. The two of them are too tense and wound up and there’s only way to fix that. Bruce and Alfred will probably say something about overtraining, but well…

Sometimes, fighting things out works.

“Spar,” she signs. She thinks she’s had too much of words for the day. Damian looks surprised, but he gets into a fighting stance readily enough.

He’s definitely hiding injuries. She noticed on the journey back to Gotham, but it’s especially obvious now. Still, he’s defiant. Always defiant. Like she’s actually an enemy instead of an ally.

She gets ready, too. The two of them are still in uniform. It makes the sparring feel more real. The fight ends quickly enough. He’s angry and injured and she isn’t. He demands a rematch. And another and another and another.

Cass is patient. She waits him out. He’ll get rid of all that anger eventually.

Finally, he relents. Or collapses on the mats. It’s the same thing, really.

“I’m not your enemy.” Her gestures are slow and deliberate. Maybe Damian will understand her better that way.

“I know that,” he says. Cass just looks at him. Either he’s lying to her, which is unlikely, or he’s still trying to lie to himself. 

“I understand.”

“Do you?” Damian asks.

“You remind me of me,” Cass signs. “It’s hard to trust others. Some things we can’t leave behind.”

Damian is looking at her like he’s never seen her before. Maybe he hasn’t. He never really looked at her properly before, always with suspicion, always with wariness. David Cain taught her that everyone is her enemy and someone taught Damhian that lesson, too.

It’s a hard thing to unlearn.

She understands him maybe a little too well.

“I’m sorry,” he says stiffly. “I will be better.”

Cass shakes her head. Better isn’t really what she’s looking for. It’s not a competition of who gets to be the best. She’s done comparing herself to other people. Damian still hasn’t quite learned that lesson yet.

“What do you want me to do then?” He sounds frustrated.

She shrugs. She wants Damian to trust her but that’s something he has to do on his own. Asking him won’t really change anything. 

“Patrol with me sometimes? I’ll even let you beat up some criminals.”

Damian furrows his brow. Finally, he nods. His posture is still wary, but he’s trying to be more open. He’s not just forcing himself to say the words, which is good to know. Cass would have thought it was a bad idea otherwise.

“Okay,” she says.

They can probably work with it.

**Author's Note:**

> These two need more fics together. My crops are dying.


End file.
